Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tripwire

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.18 in modern English

Syllables: trip-wire
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A cord or wire arranged so that when snagged or pulled by an intruder, it will trigger a detector or trap or a device, such as a land mine.

noun

Any means of detecting intruders or attackers.

verb

To set a tripwire mechanism in (a location).

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"Seeing the tripwire of a nearby bouncing Betty gave us cold chills, and we moved all the more slowly through the woods."
"They watched the two ghost-hunters run own the corridor and go crashing over the trip-wire."
"Thirteen people were injured in August 1957 when this Bristol freighter skidded on the runway at Southend Airport when landing with a flight from Calais. It ploughed through the boundary fence, but thankfully stopped short of the railway and the 1,500V overhead wires. A tripwire was installed on this section of Shenfield-Southend line to warn train drivers of instances such as this."
"The continued presence of U.S. troops as a tripwire force in Macedonia is an increasingly risky venture."

Etymology

From trip + wire.

Usage

Transitive verb

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Military.

Inflected Forms

tripwires (plural) trip wire (alternative) tripwires (present, singular) tripwiring (participle, present) tripwired (participle, past) tripwired (past)

Phrases

land mine

Frequently Paired Words

explosive land mine

Synonyms

trip cord tripline

Questions

What does tripwire mean?: A cord or wire arranged so that when snagged or pulled by an intruder, it will trigger a detector or trap or a device, such as a land mine.
Where does tripwire come from?: From trip + wire.

How to pronounce tripwire

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